The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC: December 13, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights.

PetSmart just released a holiday streaming experience designed specifically for, yes, cats and dogs. Inspired by a new PetSmart survey conducted by Big Village revealing that 69% of pet owners feel guilty leaving their pets home alone while out shopping or going to holiday celebrations, PetSmart has launched its “Home for the Pawlidays” video series designed to “ease pet and pet parent worry, and end the holiday pet blues,” per a brand announcement. With one for cats and one for dogs, “Home for the Pawlidays” features pets in holiday attire playing with toys and unwrapping gifts from PetSmart’s Merry & Bright collection; each video has a run time of just over 2 hours.

Previously: “PetSmart opens applications for second annual Chief Toy Testers,” from the May 17 edition of this column.

More brand activations:

• “ELF Beauty To Screen New Episode of Show Your(s)elf with Tribeca Festival at Art Basel Miami Beach” (Happi)
• “Essence Makeup Creates Inclusive Gaming Experience on Roblox” (Happi)
• ICYMI: “Toys ‘R’ Us Developing Reality Competition TV Series with Fox” (Retail TouchPoints)

Nostalgia “is most interesting and effective, obviously, when it’s tapping into something real and true about the brand and its history, not just latching on to a trend for the sake of it. If you need to write an essay explaining the connection to your business and your brand, it’s probably not a good sign.”

—Eric Tsytsylin, Brand Strategy Partner, Lippincott, in an interview with Marketing Dive’s Chris Kelly for a post titled “Nostalgia-washing: How brands can look back without getting hung up to dry”

Dick’s Sporting Goods just launched a fresh iteration of its continuing “Holiday Shopping Spring” campaign starring famously fast Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy. In “Holiday Shopping Sprint with Xavier Worthy,” the NFL star rapidly shops for and hand-delivers holiday gifts to winners of a Dick’s promotion, including a mother and her 8-year-old son, as well as the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City. Dick’s uses the new spot to hype its “fast and convenient delivery options,” including free delivery for loyalty members, same-day delivery and guaranteed holiday delivery.

Previously:

• “Dick’s Sporting Goods announces partnership with Team USA and LA28 Olympics,” from the July 26 edition of The Week in Retail.